The present invention relates to a thermal therapy apparatus which is placed by insertion or centesis in a body cavity or tract such as a blood vessel, digestive tract, urinary tract, abdominal cavity, or thoracic cavity, a nd performs thermal therapy by energy irradiation by using, e.g., a laser beam, microwave, radio frequency, or ultrasonic wave.
A thermal therapy apparatus is known which uses a long insertion portion to be inserted into a human body by using a body cavity or performing small incision on the human body. This insertion portion irradiates a lesion portion of the human body with, e.g., a laser beam to extinguish a tissue of this morbid by heating, degeneration, necrosis, coagulation, cauterization, or vaporization, thereby heating and treating the lesion portion. Generally, this thermal therapy apparatus irradiates a lesion portion in a surface layer or its vicinity of a vital tissue directly with a laser beam.
Another technique is also known which irradiates a deep portion of avital tissue with energy to treat a lesion portion positioned deep inavital tissue, i.e., to treat a deep lesion portion, such as in thermal therapy of a prostate. International Patent Laid-Open No. 6-510450 has disclosed a technique to provide a method of coagulating and reducing a partial tissue of a tumor or prostate by laser irradiation. This technique does not heat the surface of a urethra in contact with a balloon by injecting a coolant into the balloon, but heats only an internal prostate.
Thermal therapy apparatuses described above are classified into apparatuses whose therapeutic conditions are fixed and unchangeable and apparatuses whose therapeutic conditions can be appropriately set. Regardless of the type of thermal therapy apparatus for performing thermal therapy, the general approach is to perform image diagnosis on a tissue containing a lesion portion to be thermally treated or on peripheral tissues of the lesion portion, prior to determining whether the thermal therapy is to be performed. That is, the shape of a tissue containing a lesion portion to be thermally treated, the positional relationship with peripheral tissues, the shape of the lesion portion, and the seriousness of the lesion portion are diagnosed. These diagnoses are done by using a separate image diagnosis dedicated apparatus not included in a thermal therapy apparatus or a thermal therapy apparatus capable of performing both image diagnoses using an endoscope or an ultrasonic wave and thermal therapy.
On the basis of the results of such image diagnoses in addition to the experience of an operator, therapeutic conditions such as the intensity (output) of energy, e.g., a laser beam, microwave, radio frequency, or ultra sonic wave, the irradiation time, the irradiation direction, the irradiation position, the number of times of irradiation, the coolant temperature when a coolant is used, and the coolant flow rate when the coolant is circulated are individually set.
The heating conditions of such a thermal therapy apparatus are set on the basis of the knowledge and experience of an operator. Hence, it is difficult to know what size of a heating range is obtained by setting the individual therapeutic conditions to what degrees. This means that the larger the number of set items of therapeutic conditions, the more difficult it becomes to know the heating range obtained. Therefore, wrong therapeutic conditions may be set if an operator determines the therapeutic conditions. If wrong therapeutic conditions are set, the heating energy may become excessive or the heating position may deviate to give damage to normal tissues around a lesion portion. Alternatively, the heating energy may become too insufficient to obtain a satisfactory therapeutic effect.
Also, in a medical heating apparatus for performing thermal therapy on a human body by using a laser beam or the like, the irradiation direction and position of the laser beam and the number of times of irradiation are set on the basis of the knowledge, experience, and skill of an operator. This may lead to duplicate the heating portion or heat the non-heating portion.
Furthermore, in a conventional thermal therapy apparatus, an operator must understand image diagnostic information, set therapeutic conditions, and input the set conditions to the thermal therapy apparatus. Since this input work is cumbersome, not only the time necessary for preparations of thermal therapy increases, but also wrong therapeutic conditions may be set. Consequently, the heating energy may become excessive to give damage to normal tissues around a lesion portion or may become too insufficient to obtain a satisfactory therapeutic effect.
Moreover, diverse diagnostic data of individual patients are rarely mistaken to set wrong therapeutic conditions.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above prior art, and has as its object to provide a thermal therapy apparatus capable of performing energy irradiation by easily setting a region to be heated by the energy irradiation on the basis of the shape of a diseased part.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a thermal therapy apparatus capable of performing thermal therapy by automatically setting thermal therapeutic conditions of a diseased part on the basis of shape data of the diseased part and performing energy irradiation by controlling the irradiation angle of the energy, the number of times of irradiation, and the like in accordance with the set thermal therapeutic conditions.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a thermal therapy apparatus capable of performing thermal therapy by energy irradiation by easily setting a heating region by fitting an identifier corresponding to a heating range and heating conditions into a displayed sectional shape.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a medical heating apparatus capable of reducing the load on an operator required for preparations of thermal therapy and setting therapeutic conditions corresponding to the shape of a diseased part of a patient.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a medical heating apparatus capable of directly acquiring information concerning the shape of a vital tissue to be thermally treated and performing the thermal therapy by automatically setting therapeutic conditions matching the acquired information.
To achieve the above objects, a thermal therapy apparatus of the present invention has the following arrangement.
A thermal therapy apparatus for treating a vital tissue by irradiating the tissue with energy, comprises display means for displaying a figure indicating the shape of a diseased part to be heated on the basis of information concerning the diseased part, operating means for arranging a heating region in the figure indicating the diseased part shape displayed on the display means, and control means for controlling therapeutic conditions of the thermal therapy apparatus in accordance with size/position information of the heating region arranged by the operating means.
Also, a thermal therapy apparatus of the present invention has the following arrangement.
A thermal therapy apparatus comprises energy irradiation means to be inserted into a human body to irradiate a diseased part with energy, approximating means for approximating the shape of the diseased part on the basis of shape data of the diseased part, setting means for setting a non-heating region in the shape approximated by the approximating means, allocating means for allocating heating regions, to be heated by the energy from the energy irradiation means, in a target heating region except for the non-heating region set by the setting means, such that the heating regions are substantially uniformly arranged, and display means for displaying a figure indicating the diseased part shape approximated by the approximating means, the heating regions allocated by the allocating means, and the non-heating region set by the setting means.
Desirably, a plurality of identifiers corresponding to thermal therapeutic conditions of the thermal therapy apparatus are stored, and the allocating means selects an optimum identifier from the plurality of identifiers, and arranges the heating region by arranging the selected identifier in the figure.
The thermal therapy apparatus desirably further comprises setting means for setting a non-heating region in the figure indicating the diseased part shape.
The irradiation angle and the number of times of irradiation of the energy are desirably determined in accordance with the arrangement of the heating region.
Furthermore, a thermal therapy apparatus of the present invention has the following arrangement.
A medical heating apparatus for performing thermal therapy by irradiating a vital tissue with energy, comprises image acquiring means for acquiring an image signal of a diseased part as an object of the thermal therapy, signal analyzing means for analyzing the image signal acquired by the image acquiring means, setting means for setting therapeutic conditions for performing the thermal therapy on the basis of analytical information obtained by the signal analyzing means, and irradiation means for irradiating the diseased part with energy.
In the present invention, the therapeutic conditions preferably include at least the energy output intensity and the irradiation time.
Desirably, the energy is transmitted in a catheter and concentrated on a desired portion in a human body while the position is changed in the catheter.
The energy is preferably a laser beam.